Tanvir's Blog

December 30, 2009

Quotations by S.T. Coleridge

Coleridge, S[amuel] T[ailor](1772-1834), Nineteenth century English romantic poet, critic, and philosopher "The most happy marriage I can imagine to myself would be the union of a deaf man to a blind woman" ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge "A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and...

December 27, 2009

Yeats' Handling of Myth, Philosophy and History

The Remoteness, heroism and mystery of myth have always fascinated writers. Yeats too, was greatly enthused by the charm of myth and used it in numerous poems to reveal his complex philosophical understandings. Yeats was keen to replace traditional Greek and Roman mythological figures with figures...

December 2, 2009

Spiritual Confict in Herbert’s Poems

The metaphysical style is perhaps the most original and outlandish poetic tendency of the 17th century. John Donne was the first of the metaphysical poets and the one who did most to influence the others. Among the most important of Donne’s followers, George Herbert is distinguished for his carefully...

November 27, 2009

Cohesion

“Text” is a broad concept: it can be long or short, written or spoken. A text has an independent meaning in context. It has a purpose that makes sense to the recipients. ”A text has texture and this is what distinguishes it from something that is not a text… The texture is provided by the cohesive...

November 26, 2009

The Structural Syllabus

INTRODUCTION A Structural Syllabus (also known as the Grammatical Syllabus, the Formal Syllabus, the Traditional Syllabus, the Synthetic Syllabus) is one in which grammatical structures form the central organizing feature. The Structural or Grammatical Syllabus is one of the most common types of syllabus...

November 25, 2009

William Shakespeare Quick Facts

William Shakespeare Elizabethan playwright, poet, and actor [Author Detail] Born: April 23, 1564 Died: April 23, 1616 Birthplace: Stratford-upon-Avon, England Wrote 38 plays Wrote 154 Sonnets Writing Style: Blank Verse composed in Iambic Pentameter Influence on Others: Influenced romantic...

November 24, 2009

Quotations by William Wordsworth

Wordsworth, William (1770-1850), 19th century English romantic poet and poet laureate of England (1843–50). "Poetry is the image of man and nature." ~William Wordsworth, Preface to the Lyrical Ballads "Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge : it is the impassioned expression which...

November 23, 2009

William Wordsworth Quick Facts

William Wordsworth 19th century English romantic poet and poet laureate of England Birth: April 7, 1770 Death: April 23, 1850 Place of Birth: Cockermouth , Cumberland, in the Lake District of northwestern England Spouse: Mary Hutchinson (Married her in 1802) Number of Children: Five Education:...

November 21, 2009

Auden’s Social Consciousness

W.H Auden is widely considerd as one of the most influential and all-around members of his generation of modernist poets. Even though his status as a modern poet is well-decided by his bold experimentation with the accepted literary forms and metres, Auden’s enormous intelligence, complex philosophical...

November 20, 2009

"The Faerie Queene" as an Allegory

Edmund Spenser stands among the greatest writers of the Elizabethan period whose valuable contributions fashioned a new tradition in English literature. Nowadays he is hailed to be one of the chief initiators of the Renaissance movement in English literature. Spenser's rich and vigorous imagery, and...

November 19, 2009

The Allegorical Elements in “Young Goodman Brown”

Nathaniel Hawthorne is deemed to be the greatest of America's anti-transcendental writers. His writing is especially noted for its redolent symbolism and psychological probing into the darker sides of human heart, especially guilt and sin.Young Goodman Brown is one of Hawthorne’s most significant short...

November 18, 2009

Allegory

Allegory has been derived from the Greek term ‘allos’ meaning ‘disguise’. So allegory suggests describing on thing under the disguise of another thing. It is an extended narrative poem or prose work in which characters, events, and settings represent abstract qualities (represent or stand for something...

Satire

Satire is a type of literary or dramatic work that uses sarcasm, wit and irony to ridicule and expose the follies and foibles of mankind, often in an attempt to reform society. Satire is related to parody in its intention to mock, but satire tends to be more subtle and to mock an attitude or a belief,...

November 17, 2009

Whitman, a Voice of American Democracy

Walt Whitman is a great poet of democracy. Indeed, he may be the greatest. As Thoreau said, Whitman “is apparently the greatest democrat the world has ever seen.” Specifically speaking, he is perhaps the greatest poet of the culture of democracy. He writes the best phrases and sentences about democracy....

November 15, 2009

Quotations by T. S. Eliot

Eliot, T[homas]. S[tearns]. (1888-1965), American-born British dramatist, poet, and critic "Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel." ~T. S. Eliot "Success is relative. It is what we can...

Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH)

In his fundamental work, Biological Foundations of Language, 1967, the biolinguist Eric Heinz Lenneberg presents, among other concepts, his “Critical period” hypothesis. Lenneberg's idea of a critical period is an important aspect of the innateness proposal. Lenneberg theorized that the capacity to...